


Flatliners (pump, pump, pump it up)

by LayDTF



Category: Until Dawn (Video Game)
Genre: M/M, but theres no wendigos ayy, did i mention this was a blind au im so sorry, i still dont know how to tag lmao, my friend gave me a horrible au, this is a horrible au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-27
Updated: 2015-10-05
Packaged: 2018-04-23 14:36:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,602
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4880557
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LayDTF/pseuds/LayDTF
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He managed to register “Josh and Beth” and “fell off a cliff” and suddenly he was very fucking sober.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> My friend an I shared aus and now im in fucking hell

This can’t be happening, Chris thinks as he rushes through the snow after Hannah. He’s vaguely aware of the others following them, but he can’t think over the roaring in his ears.

Hannah had barged into the lodge, practically in hysterics, scaring the absolute shit out of all of them. Chris’ mind had been hazy from the alcohol, but he managed to register “ _Josh and Beth_ ” and “ _fell off a cliff_ ” and suddenly he was very fucking sober.

 

Hannah tells him the story in bits and pieces, but he manages to put it together. There was a prank, a very shitty one on Mike’s behalf, she’d run out of the lodge, and Beth had followed her with Josh in tow. There had been some rustling in the woods and they’d gotten spooked, and then Josh and Beth just _fell._ Fuck. He’d been passed out during _all of this._ He didn’t even know if they were still alive down there, and judging by Hannah’s sobs, he probably shouldn’t expect them to be.

 

God, he wants to throw up. 

 

They make it to the end of edge of the cliff, and god, it looks like a long fall. He thinks he sees rocks at the bottom, but he can’t see _Josh._ There’s just snow, and rocks and-

 

Blood.

 

He wants to hope it’s deer blood or some other shit but he knows, _he knows,_ and he wants to throw up or maybe jump right down after him because he still can’t see Josh all he can see is _blood_ and there’s just _so fucking much_.

 

He swallows down bile and follows Hannah as she runs down a slope, Sam hot on their heels. The others went back to radio of help, he thinks he heard Sam say, he’s not really sure.

 

Hannah is saying something under her breath, the winds have picked up, nipping harshly at his skin, his face, making it hard to hear her, but he catches: “It’s my fault, oh god, it’s my fault.” And he doesn’t believe that, not really, but he can’t really bring himself to say something to comfort her, not when his best friend could be dead along with his sister. He settles for putting a hand on her shoulder and giving her a smile that’s more of a grimace than anything else. It’s not really surprising when she doesn’t even look the slightest bit relaxed, but it’s all he can bring himself to do.

There’s a yell and Hannah stops short, Chris nearly bowling her over, and Sam actually crashes into him, but none of that matters, not when they’re straining to hear, hoping to hear it again.

 

They know it’s Beth when it comes the second time, a loud cry of “HELP!” And Hannah’s already taking off towards the sound, and Chris can’t help but think that if Beth is calling for help why isn’t Josh? He follows Hannah with his stomach in knots.

 

And of all the things he’d been expecting, which none were good, he never expected _this._

 

Beth is kneeling next to Josh, and, for all that’s happened, looks okay. There’s a bruise on her temple, she’s probably got a concussion, and there’s probably a few more bruises under her clothes, but she’s _fine_ and it’s a relief.

 

Josh-

 

Josh isn’t fine.

 

The first thing he notices is all the goddamned blood, and Hannah screams next to him, darting to where Beth is hovering over their brother, who’s looking _very fucking dead_ and Chris feels like he can’t breathe.

 

He stumbles more than he walks towards them, sinking to his knees next to where Josh is sprawled out on the ground, and hell, he almost looks peaceful. Fuck.

 

Sam is crying when she drops down next to him, a hand covering her mouth, and he sort of wants to cry too because this can’t be _real_ this isn’t _happening_ ,

 

His hands hover over Josh, he’s not sure what part of him to touch, of if he even _should_ touch. Hannah and Beth are talking, Hannah asking what happened.

 

All he hears Beth say is, “He hit his head on a rock,” And everything else is drowned out by the roaring in his ears.

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> someone told me to fix this mess i've made but i think i made a bigger mess im sorry but not really

Getting to the hospital was a blur, the recue team took a good half an hour to get there, and it was definitely time Josh did not have.

 

The storm had gotten worse, cold winds nipping at their skin. Chris had long shed his coat by then, using it to press it gently against the back of Josh’s bloody head. It sickened him how fast it had begun to soak with blood. Josh needed help _yesterday_.

 

Chris would trade places with him, if given the chance.

 

He swallows down bile again.

 

He just wanted Josh to wake up, open his eyes and shout, “Gotcha!” Maybe it was some really well thought out prank, and he could yell at him and give him a good punch for worrying him so much, and then everything would be okay again.

 

But Josh didn’t _move_. He hadn’t moved a fucking muscle, save for the quick rise and fall of his chest. Chris would have given anything for Josh to move, even for a _second_ , a twitching finger would be enough for him. But Josh didn’t move and Chris had been terrified.

 

He was so fucking terrified of losing Josh. What was he supposed to do without him? Josh was his _best friend_. They’ve done everything together. He was the person Chris went to with his problems, the one he could trust with anything, he was- oh.

 

Oh no.

 

Looking back on it that had probably not been the best time to come to a realization.

 

*

 

Josh was in a bad way. That’s all they told them. Hell, that’s all they seemed to _know._

He was rushed into surgery the moment they got to the hospital, leaving them standing in the waiting room. Chris was the first to take a seat. He felt tired.

 

Head injuries are never good news, one nurse told them, and he had to grab Hannah before she fell.

 

Beth, luckily, only had a few bruises and scrapes, which she refused to be given a room for and had them patch her up in the waiting room instead.

 

The rest of the group gets there, looking apologetic and terrified, but no one really tells them anything. Chris definitely doesn’t have the energy to look at them, let alone say anything about the prank.

 

They all sit together, and they wait.

 

The first hour goes by.

 

Mike gets up to get some food somewhere in the second hour.

 

Emily, Jess, and Matt are asleep by the third.

 

Chris feels exhausted enough to sleep, but it’s not like he could if he tried, not with Josh fighting for his life on some hospital bed, where he could possibly _die._ So, no, Chris is sure as fuck not dozing off anytime soon.

 

It’s the beginning of the fourth hour when the doctor approaches them, and Chris is out of the chair as fast as Hannah and Beth are. He’s dreading what the doctor might say. Maybe, “We did everything we could...but,” Or, “He’s never going to wake up.”

 

He’s dreading the news, but when the doctor looks at them, face somber, he feels his stomach churn unpleasantly not for the first time that night.

 

The doctor opens his mouth and his world crumbles around him for the second time that night.

 

*

His head is buzzing as he’s led with Hannah and Beth to Josh’s room.

 

“He’s family,” Beth had said, stubborn, when they said only family would be allowed in first.

 

Under normal circumstances he’s be flattered, he’d tease Beth even, “Aww, family?” But his throat feels tight, like he’s suffocating. He wants to scream, but he feels like the sound is lodged in his throat somewhere, and he’s unable to get it out.

 

 _Swelling to the brain,_ the doctor had said, _coma,_ and what stuck out the most, _damage to the occipital lobe, permanent blindness._

 

At first he had thought he heard wrong. Josh? Blind?

 

He’d made it through the surgery without a hitch, the doctor had said, but that didn’t change the fact that his best friend would never fucking _see_ again.

 

Josh is surrounded by tubes and machines when they walk in, and he looks small, covered up to his chest in blankets, and Chris can only stare and remind himself to breathe because Josh still is and that has to mean something.

 

Josh’s head is bandaged, but Chris can see where his hair has been shaved unevenly, it’s weird that the first thing he thinks about is that they’ll have to trim the rest later to have it look normal again. Trauma does that to you, he supposes, he’s not really thinking straight. Not really.

 

He hears Hannah inhale to his right, before walking the rest of the way to Josh’s bedside, she drags the chair near her over and takes a seat before grabbing his hand. Beth follows her example and sits on his other side. Chris is slower, taking tentative steps forward until he’s standing next to Josh, staring at Josh’s sleeping face.

 

He feels the urge- the _need_ to touch him, and he doesn’t resist it. He touches his hair first, greasy and matted with blood under his fingertips, and he’s never felt so relieved to feel Josh’s hair, or anyone’s hair. His hand finds its way to Josh’s cheek, and he draws in a shaky breath.

 

He’ll be fine, they’re all gonna be _fine_.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> don't forget to beat me up after this


End file.
